


Mall Trip

by vmeemo



Series: Ghostly Love [3]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Shopping Malls, ghost au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28601637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vmeemo/pseuds/vmeemo
Summary: When Three gets an invitation to come over to the mall for something, she does her best to leave her ghost friend behind. However, Eight wasn't having any of it, so against her better judgement, she allows the ghost to tagalong as long as she doesn't mess around too much in it.By the time Three gets there though, what ends up happening maybe more then what she bargained for, when she sees her old friend Four there.
Series: Ghostly Love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618885
Kudos: 6





	Mall Trip

**Author's Note:**

> Look at who finally updated this story! For the very few who patiently waited for this story, I salute you.
> 
> So yeah, I only have myself to blame for this, procrastination is a bastard to me. So, even though it took like, since April of 2020 to finally finish this story, hope all of you enjoy it!

“You are not coming with me.”

Three looks over at Eight, pouting at her.

“Oh but why not Three? It’s so _boring_ being in the house all day. Just let me go out with you just this once?”

“It’s just a simple trip to the mall.” Three says, “I’ll be gone for like, twenty minutes at best.”

Three really didn’t see why Eight was acting like this. It was never really a problem before, so why now? Three would go out, Eight would stay, and everything would work out.

Although thinking about it now... Eight _could_ just come with her for a little bit. Three knows that there’s nothing really keeping her here, nothing stopping her from just not listening to her and going with her anyway. Eight is not a ghost bound by a location. Three knows this, because there were times when Eight would just come with her, during the early days of getting settled in into the house.

With that in mind, there really isn’t a reason why Eight couldn’t come with her. Outside of Three just making non-existent excuses really. Which means...

Three lets out a tired sigh, “You know what Eight? I’ll let you come. But you have to behave alright? No funny business. Are we good?”

Eight gives a little salute. It’ll have to do.

With that done, Three makes her way out of the house and to her car. Once she gets herself seated and notices that she doesn’t see Eight anywhere in the car. At first she though that Eight changed her mind, until she sees Eight floating on the passenger side door. Three waits for her to get in, but Eight stays out there. The spirit nods her head down towards the door. Three didn’t get what that meant at first but it clicks in for her what she’s trying to say: Open the door.

Three rolls down the window and looks at the ghost outside her car. “Eight just come in already. You don’t need me to open the door for you. So just please get in the car.”

Eight lets out a huff, “Well aren’t you rude. Just because I can go through objects and walls doesn’t mean you can’t be generous and open a door. It hurts my heart Three.”

Despite the tone, Three knows that she doesn’t mean anything by it. They both did this song and dance once before. Three rolls her eyes and Eight passes through the door and makes her way into the backseat. Once Three was sure that she has everything, she starts the car and onto the road.

Next stop, the mall.

\---------

Three lets out a tired sigh as she finally reaches the mall. Traffic was not kind to her, and the only thing keeping her from losing herself to road rage was Eight calming her down during the drive. A saving grace was that she managed to find a parking spot before it got taken. Now that she’s parked, she looks over to Eight, who’s moved over to the front seat during the drive.

“Remember to not make a scene. Just because people can’t see you, doesn’t mean that you can mess with them. _Especially_ in an environment like this. Are we good?”

Eight gives her a small nod, “I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

“Good. Thank you.”

With that, Three gets out of the car and makes her way down the parking lot, with Eight floating beside her. Going through the doors, Three sees nothing but crowds of people going by. Not paying the crowd any mind, Three keeps walking further into the mall, making sure to move out of peoples way when she can.

After about a minute or so of walking, Three feels Eight tap her on the shoulder.

“So Three, because I didn’t ask this earlier, why are we here again? You didn’t exactly say anything about it on the way here. So I’m just wondering that’s all.”

Keeping her pace, Three gives her response, “I’m meeting up with someone I haven’t seen in awhile. Instead of me going over to their place to do that, instead they asked if we could meet up here.”

Eight gives a slow nod. Then Three hears an ‘ah’ coming from her. “So I’m gonna meet a friend of yours then? I didn’t even think you had any.”

“Of course I do.” Three says, “I just don’t talk about them. Much.”

Eight hums, “Yeah sure I’ll buy that. Still though, shame I can’t properly meet this mysterious ‘friend’ yours. I feel like we would get along swimmingly.”

“Eight.”

“Yeah I know, I’ll be on my best behaviour. I promised that much. I’ll be out of sight, you don’t need to worry.”

Three let’s out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Even though Three knows that Eight will at least stay true to her word, it makes her uneasy that she’s in a highly public place as well. Other times when Eight would come with her, it was usually in quiet, almost empty stores where no one would really pay attention to a displaced item or two. Here in a mall though, she can’t really do things like that to pass the time.

It could just be Three worrying over nothing, but at the same time she has a literal ghost as a roommate. Normal rules don’t apply where they should. For the time being though, Three will keep an eye on Eight as a precaution.

“So where are we meeting this person anyway?” Eight asked, cutting Three from her thoughts.

“Well they did say to meet over at the food court, which is where we’re heading to right now. They also offered to buy me lunch as well while I’m here as well, so I guess it won’t be a complete waste of time.”

“Nice of this person to pay for food. Must be a good friend then.”

Three notes that Eight sounded off when she said that, but before she could really think on that, her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. Pulling over to the side wall, she pulls out her phone and she sees a message pop up:

_There anything you want me to get u? Also are u there yet._

Looking at the message, Three wordlessly types out her response,

_> I’ll have a steak ‘n cheese sub. Foot long. And yes I am almost there, so you don’t need to wait much longer._

_Nice! And yeah, I’ll get you a sandwich. Be seeing u soon!_

Seeing that message, Three puts her phone back into her pocket and continues her walk to the food court. The walk wasn’t long and soon Three was greeted with the sight of a crowded food court. Three grumbles and pulls out her phone, sending a message of where they are in the crowd. Shortly after, a message comes back,

_I am over in the center, at the corner. wearing my favourite shirt so it shouldn’t be hard to find me :)_

Staring at the message, Three breaths through her nose as she know exactly what shirt they’re talking about. Looking up at the crowd, it’s difficult to discern where they might be, and Three does not want to walk around like an idiot until she finds the person she’s looking for. She’s gonna need some help with this. Luckily, she has someone who can help her out.

Three eyes the area where Eight is, who currently isn’t paying attention and is looking at the crowd as well. Three slides her hand through Eight’s which catches her attention.

“What is it?” Eight asks.

Three couldn’t believe she was going to ask this _after_ making a point of ‘don’t go anywhere’ to the one person who has the power to do that.

“I need you to go around and find where they’re sitting? I don’t want to waste time walking around, so can you do this for me?”

Eight lets out a laugh, “At home you told me to behave, and the first thing you ask me to do is to go around and look for someone. For shame Three, for shame.”

“Shut it. I know what shirt they’re wearing, so finding them should be easy enough for you.”

Eight hovers closer, “What’s the shirt look like?”

“It’s a picture of a purple frog doing a blep. The shirts a bit older as well, so it should be easier to find. And they are sitting in the center area, at one of the corners. You think you can find them?”

Letting out a scoff, the ghost looks over at the crowd, “With what you’ve given me, it should be a piece of cake.”

Three lets out a hum, "Thanks Eight, I appreciate it."

Eight gives a nod before flying above the crowd to look for the person she's looking for. In the meantime though, Three goes over her thoughts about this whole thing. Because Three hasn't seen them in almost five months, so it seems weird that they would ask her out to lunch like this. It could be just them wanting to reconnect, but couldn't it been done _anywhere_ else?

Eyeing the crowd again, she sees that Eight is now hovering over a spot, looking at something. As if the spirit knew she was being looked at, she looks over to Three and starts waving her arm.

'Guess she's found the spot then.' Three thought.

Making her way through the crowd over to where Eight is, she sees the face of the person she hasn't seen in awhile in the distance.

Like they said in the text, the faded purple frog shirt can be seen in their person. The hair is done in a short bob style, and is the look that is most familiar to Three. Looking under the table, she sees that they're wearing some simple shorts, which to Three is a bold move considering the weather is starting to cool down a bit.

The other person at the table looks up and gives off a big smile and a wave.

"Hey Three! Long-time no see!"

Three gives a wave back in response, "Hey Four."

Taking her seat across from Four, she notices the tray with something wrapped up on it. Wrapping it, she sees her sandwich. And her lunch for the day.

The person across from her lets out a laugh, "Not even five seconds, and you go straight for the food."

"Hey, to be fair, I haven't taken a bite yet. I _could_ just be checking it to see that it's the right one. And it is the right one, so thank you."

“No problem Three. It’s the least I could do after bringing you out here.”

“Oh yeah,” Three says, “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Why did you call me out here anyway? It’s been like five months since we last saw each other, so it’s just odd that you would contact me now.”

Soon after Three has said that, Four's face turns competitive. Wordlessly, they lean over and go through their bag on the ground. A few seconds pass, and Three sees them pull out a slip of paper. Four leans back over to look at Three, puts it on the table and slides it over to her. Looking at Four, then at the paper, Three picks the paper up and reads what's written on it.

_We of the Official Turf War Association send you this letter as an apology of the events of the tournament of May 23rd 2017 for the accusation of misconduct and the improper way it was handled._

_If you so wish, you are allowed to re-register as a contender for future tournaments under our Association, with a new team as well._

_Your former team members have been expelled as a result of their actions, and as such will not be allowed to participate in future tournaments effective immediately._

_We await your responses, should one be given._

_Sincerely, Tobias Bark, CEO_

Three feels something rising in her, and it’s not the good kind of something. Grabbing the top of the paper, Three rips it in half. The two halves fall onto the table and Three looks over at Four, who hasn’t given a reaction to what she did.

“You _know_ how I feel about that now. Especially after what happened back then.” Three say, with a slight tone rising in her voice.

Still faced, Four simply nodded, “It was meant to be sent to you a few months ago, but no one could find you. It was given to me by someone in case you were ever found.”

Their shoulders slack, looking down at the table, “Truth be told, I didn’t want to give it to you. Not after what happened. But then I saw you lurking around, and I thought to just give it to you, if only for closures sake. I knew this would happen, and yet I did it anyway.”

Turning her head up, Three sees that in their eyes what they say is true. At the same time though...

"After everything that's happened, they _want_ me back? Fat chance..."

Before Four could respond, Three quickly gets up from the table.

"I need to be alone for a minute."

Not hearing what Four was saying, Three leaves the table. Looking for a quick place to be alone, she eyes a hallway to her left, one of those offshoot hallways that make cutting through the mall easier. Turning towards the hall, Three enters it and sits down near a vending machine, angled in a way where no one can see her.

Though this time of being alone was cut short, when Three sees Eight floating in front of her, paper in hand.

"Can you just go right now? I want to be alone..."

When the ghost didn't answer, Three was starting to get irritated, "Eight, I don't have _time_ for whatever you want to say right now. I just want to be alone, and you are not helping."

"You even have the paper! What if someone saw that? I told you to-"

Three's rant was cut off as Eight covers her mouth. She then floats down beside her and wraps an arm around Three.

Starting to slightly go red now, Three tries again to convince Eight to stop.

"L-Look, whatever you do isn't gonna make my mood any better, so just go!"

Eight then puts the paper in front of her and that's when she notices that this one’s different than the one she just read. This one has more of a yellow tinge to it rather than the white that the other one had.

Three takes the paper from Eight, and opens it up to see what its contents contain.

_Hey kiddo! How have things been for you lately? I hope they're going well!_

_Now, if you’re reading this, you likely got the other letter as well. From that Tobias guy. I don't know what took them so long to get all this settled, but I don't like it. You’re a sweet girl, and I trained you myself. To be a victim of all this..._

_If it helps, apparently those no good 'teammates' of yours were up to some nasty stuff. Sabotage, all that stuff. Guess they wanted to win in an easy way and you took the fall for it._

_It's really no wonder you hid away from it all. But while I'm not expecting you to go back, maybe give this old man a visit sometime! Then we can talk like the good old days!_

_Oh and Mia- Er sorry, Three, take care out there. Make some friends why don't you? Pretty sure you will find someone you'll like sooner or later!_

'Oh you have _no_ idea how right you are.' Three thinks to herself. She keeps reading the letter.

_Anyways, this is starting to get long, and my hands aren't what they used to be. In fact, Four had to help me out here a bit! Maybe you can reconnect with them to start with?_

_Either way, good luck with whatever your up too! I'll be proud of you either way!_

_Sincerely, Craig Cuttlefish_

On reaching the end of the Cap'ns letter, Three felt something in her. And unlike the other letter, this one made her feel a little bit better. She looks at Eight, who looks at her with a bit of a smile.

Three rolls her eyes and returns the hug that Eight is giving her.

"Thanks Eight. I appreciate it."

Three feels a pat on her back, "Not a problem Mia."

Hearing that name for a second stuns her. Very few people call her that nowadays due to her not wanting to, and how it's been plastered as someone to be against. And yet when Eight says it, she doesn't feel shame of having it.

Sure it was said super casually, but it was enough for her to want Eight to say it again.

'Oh god I'm gay as _shit_ for her aren't I?'

Trying to shake these feelings off, Three pulls out of the hug and looks at the ghost in front of her.

"H-hey why don't we go back to Four huh? Even if its not much, you get to know them a bit better right?"

Luckily for Three, Eight doesn't notice her inner turmoil and simply nods. She floats away from her, turns around and offers her hand. Three simply chuckles and grabs the ghostly hand, not even feeling chilly this time and pulls herself up.

"One of these days, I'm gonna need to know what the extent of what you're able to do. Starting to question if your really a ghost."

Said ghost in question smirks, and places a finger to her mouth, "That's for me to know, and you to hopefully never find out. And you know I'm a ghost, so don't even.”

She chuckles, "Yeah but you never know. Now, I'm gonna head back to Four. They didn't deserve the way I treated them. You remember what I said though?"

Eight rolls her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, stay out of sight and all that. I promised you that, so I will do it for you. Letter delivery aside of course."

With confirmation from the ghost, a different letter read, and the feelings Three has for her slightly increasing, she walks out of the hallway and back to the food court to where Four still is.

When Three gets back to the food court though, she sees that two other people have sat down where they were, along with Four. One looks like a dark skinned woman, with long flowing hair with teal tipped ends. The other person sitting beside her is shorter, with shoulder length hair, with pink tips at the ends. And she is wearing a thing Three vaguely remembers is called a whoopee cap on her head, but in pink.

Really trying to bring back the 20s and 30s back huh.

Ignoring the choice of fashion of this person, Three walks towards the table, where Four seems to be having a conversation with the two. Four sees her approach, almost surprised that she came back.

Three decides to speak up, "Yeah I came back. Couldn't just leave you hanging after all. You only did what you were told, and I can't fault you for that. So might as well hang out with you as long as possible right?”

A smile grows on Four’s face. The one in pink looks over at Three and scans her, “So you’re the one that they were talking about right? The one who just left their friend alone because of a stupid letter?”

Three was taken aback by this, because really, she doesn’t have a solid argument. She _did_ leave her friend to fend for themself because of her own reasons. Looking away from the pink haired girl, she doesn’t have much to say on the matter. The other girl beside pinky has other plans though.

“Pearlie! I’m sure she had her reasons! Don’t need to remind her of them alright? We don’t know the full context, so you shouldn’t butt in like that!”

‘Pearlie’ lets out a sigh and leans back into her chair. “Yeah you’re right. Sorry about that though.”

Seeing how awkward the air is right now, Three just waves a hand, “No worries. I kinda deserve it really. Did just leave them hanging after all...”

Three feels a tug on her sleeve and when she looks, she sees it’s Four. They gesture for them to sit down, which she obliges. They wave a hand to the two women sitting across from them.

“When you disappeared, I was considering to just leave. Then these two came by looking for a seat. I was going to offer mine, but then Marina, the one with the teal tips offered me to stay for a bit since I was down. So I told them about what happened, not everything of course, but enough to get a general idea.”

‘Marina’ gives a small frown, “sorry if we intruded into something private. It wasn’t right of us to do that behind your back, and to strangers as well.”

Seeing the guilty looks on the two ladies, Three decides to cut them slack, “It’s not a problem, really. Things happen and I want to make up for it. So here I am, back again.”

Four gives her a smile and hugs her side, “Thanks Three. You’re a good friend.”

Giving a faint blush, she wiggles out of the hug, prompting a laugh out of them. This goes on for a while, with Three learning that their names were Pearl and Marina. Those names ring a bell to her for some reason but she can’t place it at the moment.

“So what brings you two here? Seem like pretty high class people to me. You don’t have to answer, I’m just wondering that’s all.”

As soon as she says that, the two people look at each other. After a few moments, with Pearl giving a slight frown, Marina looks at Three.

“...We were out to go buy some flowers for a friend. They’re in the hospital right now.”

Well. What a way to make a day even shittier. Three goes to apologize when at the corner of her eye, she sees Eight, floating closer until she rests on the railing beside her. What catches her off guard is how _attentive_ she seems to be. In the time Three has known her, Eight is very rarely if ever, this focused on something. Especially not at the two people who are strangers to her. Before Three can do anything else though, she hears Marina continue her story.

“An accident happened while she was practicing... She got hit by a stage light that wasn’t hooked up properly. It was light, but they took her a-and-”

Hearing sniffles, Pearl gives Marina a few pats on the back to try to calm her down. She turns to Three and Four, “She’s in a coma right now. Has been for a month and a half now. We do our best to visit, but our jobs make that hard for us. So we thought to come here to the mall and buy her some flowers now that we have time. Give her something to enjoy while she’s in bed.”

Three looks at the two, feeling guilt build up in her. “I-I know it won’t mean much coming from me, but you have my sympathies. I hope she gets out of that coma, for your guys sakes.”

The two give a slow nod, “Thank you... We hope so as well.” Marina says.

The air turns awkward between the two groups, neither of them knowing what to say. Three clears her throat, trying to clear the air a little bit, as well as giving the two women some much needed space. “Hey... How about you go get those flowers now? I’m sure she’ll appreciate them. Give you two some space as well. If you want to of course.”

Pearl and Marina look at each other, seeing what the other thinks. Marina turns to her with a small smile, “Thank you... Sorry that we made the air depressing.”

Quickly shaking her head, Three speaks up, “No I’m sorry for asking. I asked a sensitive topic when I shouldn’t have. So I’ll take the blame for it, no worries.”

Marina gives her a thankful nod and gets up from the table, Pearl joining in afterwards.

“Thank you for letting us stay for a while. It was a nice distraction for a bit.”

Pearl pats Marina on the side to try to comfort her, “It’s alright ‘Rina. We’ll get those flowers, then we can visit her on our way back home.”

Giving shorter girl a nod, the two start to stand up from the table and make it a few feet before Marina turns around.

“Oh, did you forget something?” Four asked, curious about why she came back.

Marina shakes her head, “Yes and no. I didn’t forget anything personal, but I thought that I should give you this.”

Digging into her bag, she pulls out two small cases and places them on the table. Before either of the two could ask, Marina speaks up first. “They’re album cases. One for each of you. You two were so nice to us, that I figured that I should repay you somehow.”

The two look at each other and shake their heads, looking towards Marina.

“That’s not really necessary.” Three points out, “You two simply came here because my friend offered the chairs across from them, and because they were upset, something that you two wanted to reassure them on. And yeah, I should’ve been better about it. But we talked about your issues despite them being super personal to you two.”

Four slides the cases back towards Marina, “Even though we’re just strangers, I’d prefer to maybe hangout again, even if it is unlikely. We were just being nice like any person should be towards you.”

Marina eyes them for a short time before taking the cases back. She picks up a napkin and pulls out a pen from her purse, and writes something on it before sliding it over to them with a faint smile on her face.

“Then maybe we can meet again under different circumstances. And thank you once again for understanding. Even if only one of you sees me again, then that’s good enough for me.”

Giving the two a short bow, Marina walks away from the two, but not before looking back at them, “May we meet again sometime. Thank you for the chat.” And then keeps walking, making sure to catch up to Pearl, leaving the two at the table.

Four takes a breath before out a sigh, “This has been a day for the both of us huh? I almost want to just head home for the day. How about you Three, what’s your plan?”

Giving a drawn out huff through her nose, Three drags a hand down her face, feeling exhausted from the day. “I think I might just go home in a bit. Everything happening all at once like this. Doesn’t help that malls are just tiring to stay at in general...”

And there is that other issue Three wants to look into with Eight. Never before has she been _this_ focused on a person before, much less two. When she glances over to the spot the ghost was on, she notices that she’s slumped over the railing she’s on. Eight notices that Three is looking at her and gives her a small smile.

“...Three!”

Hearing her name causes her to snap her eyes back at Four, who is looking with some concern in their expression. “Is everything okay? You just spaced out for a moment there...”

Trying to cover up what she was just doing, Three just nods her head, “Yeah sorry about that... I’m just feeling tired right now. Malls are exhausting.”

Four raises an eyebrow, but eventually lets out a sigh and gives a playful nudge on Three’s shoulder. “Yeah I don’t blame you really. Guess this means we part ways for now.”

They give their friend a small side hug, “Maybe sometime we can just hang out together again, without all of the drama and whatnot. That sound nice to you?”

Three returns the hug, a smile forming on her face. “That would be nice actually. Would be nice just hanging out with you, even if it is just having lunch or something.”

Four lets out a mock gasp, “What’s this? Three is being _friendly?_ Stop the presses people!”

“Ah shut up Four.”

There is a slight pause between the two before they start laughing. They eventually stop, and Four pats their friend on the back. “I keep forgetting how fun you can be under all the grumpiness of yours. Maybe someday we can meet back up again if that’s alright with you?”

Letting out a sigh, a small smile forms on her face, “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind that. For now though-”

Three stretches her arms and rolls her shoulders, feeling the tiredness from earlier come back, “For now I just want to go home.”

“Fair enough.” Four takes their hand of Three’s back and walks in front of her, “Then I hope you have a good afternoon. May we meet again another day.”

“See you later Four. And thanks again for inviting me out.”

Four waves and walks off towards the doors leading to the parking lot, leaving Three alone at the table, with only a ghost to keep her company. Speaking of said ghost...

“So, Eight... You ready to go now?” Three asks. She hopes that the spirit understands that she is tired and just wants to go home now, and there won’t be any argue-

“Yeah I’m ready to go.” Eight floats over to her side, “Lead the way Three!”

...Well that was easy.

While Three was confused at how easy it was, she’s going to take this opportunity and leave before she wants anything else from the mall. So with a ghost at her side, the two make their way over to the entryway where she parked her car. And for the most part it was going well, at least until she felt a slight tug on her shirt from the ghost beside her.

‘Damn it, and just when I was _so close_ too...’ Three looks over to Eight, where she sees a hopeful look on her face. “What is it Eight? What do you want me to do?”

The ghost lets go of her shirt and hovers towards a photo booth. Phasing through the curtain, she sticks a hand through it and waves the other girl over. Letting out a sigh, Three walks up towards the booth and goes behind the curtain, taking a seat that was inside it.

“I’m not sure what you exactly want me to do here. I don’t have any change that I could use for this, so you’re out of luck there.” And she’s not wrong either, she doesn’t have any change she could spare. Being treated for lunch doesn’t exactly give you the first thought of bringing money with you. She’s about to walk out of the booth when she feels a force keep her down on the hard seat.

Eight looks at her with a bit of hope, “Just a few? For me? You won’t need to pay or anything. And well-” She looks at the screen for the options she wants to do, “It’ll be a small distraction from everything right?”

Hearing this, Three can’t really argue with this reasoning. She does need a distraction from everything, though she doesn’t get how a few pictures are going to do it. She sighs and taps the screen until the payment option comes up.

“Alright Eight, I’ll do this for you. Not what a few pictures are going to do, but I’m willing to bite.” And from her limited knowledge of ghosts, they do end up showing up on pictures anyway. She thinks so at least. It’s hard to say when most instances of this kind of thing are for the most part scammers looking for a good story, adding in things that wouldn’t be there normally otherwise.

The ghost gives Three a smile that for a moment wants to make that smile last even longer before shaking it away. ‘No Three, no feelings for ghosts! Not like she would return them anyway...’

Eight doesn’t notice though, and she places a hand on the screen. Suddenly it goes to static and after a few seconds the screen goes back to normal, as if there was money put into it. Three feels an arm wrap around her neck, and sees that Eight is prepping herself for a small pose. Feeling a tug of her cheeks, she makes a peace sign with her fingers, and suddenly the camera flashes. The last few seconds were a blur as pictures were taken, each with a pose and expression different from the last.

Eventually though, the photos stop coming and a small strip appears in the slot beside the screen, showing that their time was done. Before Three can pick up the strip of photos, she notices that Eight is deep in thought. Curious, she slightly nudges the ghost beside her. “What’s on your mind Eight?”

She looks at Three before leaning against her shoulder, “It... It feels like I knew those two. Pearl and Marina. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt like I knew them from somewhere. I just can’t piece together when and where though...”

The spirit shakes her head, “It’s probably nothing though, so don’t mind me...”

Three on the other hand feels a frown forming on her face, and she makes Eight look at her, “It’s not ‘nothing’ Eight. This is lingering on your mind, and I want to know why. If this relates to your missing memories, then I want to help you out in any way I can. So if you are able to-”

She wraps her arms around Eight, ignoring the slight chill she’s feeling from her body, “Tell me what you can remember. Even if it’s something minor.”

While Eight wasn’t expecting a hug, she wraps her arms around Three to return the hug. No words are spoken for a time, until Three feels a small breeze on her neck from the ghost. “...I remember a stage. I remember that I was holding something in my hands, something with fire on the ends. It was all going well. And then my vision blacks out, and all I hear are voices. Two stuck out to me the most. And they sounded like those two girls you met. But before I could do anymore digging into those memories-”

Three feels the hug tighten a bit more, “It fades away, and I see the mall again. And just when I thought I would get some answers...”

Shaking her head, Three strokes the ghosts back, trying to comfort her. “It’s something at least Eight. And this is some good information. If I can, I’ll find out if those events mean anything, if and when they happened. So don’t worry Eight. And like I said before-”

Breaking off from the hug, she gives her ghostly friend a small smile, “I’ll help you out the best I can. And I will stick by it as well. We’ll get some answers about who you are, I promise.”

While Three can see that her eyes have widened, they soften and Eight leans her head into her chest. “Thank you Three. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem Eight.”

They stay like that for some time before Eight takes her head off of Three’s chest. A smile is on her face, and she makes her way towards the curtain. “I’m ready to head home now. Today was tiring, and I would like nothing more than to relax for the next few hours.”

“Three lets out a small chuckle, “You and me both. I’ll just grab the pictures and I’ll meet you over by the car alright?”

“Okay!”

With a little salute, Eight floats out of the photo booth, leaving Three alone inside it. With a smile still on her face, she picks up the strip of pictures that they took together. And she lets out a small ‘heh’ as she looks down the strip, seeing fun little poses they did, even a time when Eight put some bunny ears behind her head.

Once she gets to the bottom of the strip however, a faint blush dusts her cheeks. And the reason for that?

Because when Three looks at the pictures at the bottom, she is greeted with the sight of the two of them making flirty faces with each other. To add even more to the embarrassment, she blanked out during that part, so to her, it’s like she’s seeing this picture for the first time. Three looks away from the picture, feeling her face get hotter the longer she looks at it.

‘God _why_ does the ghost look so beautiful in this picture?’ She thinks to herself, covering her face. Even though she knows that she’s still in the booth, she can’t help but feel that she’s being watched from somewhere. She tries her best to shake these thoughts away and puts the strip of pictures in her bag.

‘Not like she really means it anyway...’

She goes out of the booth, and makes her way over to the entrance of the mall, walking outside into the slightly chilly air. Doing her best to ignore the chill, she goes into the busy parking lot, making sure to avoid the cars pulling out of their spots. Soon she makes it to her car, where she sees Eight phasing through the roof of it. Three feels a small smile tug on her face as she sees the ghost turn to face her and wave at her. Going into the car, she sees Eight float over to the passenger seat beside her.

Eight looks over at the girl beside her “So Three, you think today went well? Enough at least?”

Taking a moment to think about it, she lets out a small hum, “I think it went well for the most part, everything happening aside.”

“I think so too Three. We found out a bit more about me, even if it’s mostly speculation... But I’m happy because of that. Thank you for sticking with me through all of this.”

“No problem.” Three starts the car and she makes a slow crawl out of the parking lot and onto the road. A few minutes in, she glances over at Eight, just looking out the window. Gathering her thoughts, she clears her throat.

“Hey Eight?”

The ghost turns to look at her, “Yeah Three?”

Taking a small breath, she makes a quick glance at the spirit, “Do you, want to watch a movie or something when we get home? If you want to at least?”

Eight shakes her head with a smile on her face, “I’d love to watch a movie with you! It can even be a surprise what we watch! Thanks for asking me Three!”

“N-no problem... Least you’re happy about it.” Looking back at the road, she focuses her attention on driving. After silently driving all the way back home, Eight bolts out of the car and goes through the door into the house, Three seeing the excitement on her face. Eight sticks her head through the door, looking at Three with a smile on her face.

“Come on Three! We have a movie to watch!”

Three gives a small chuckle at this enthusiasm of hers, “I’ll be there in a minute! I can’t phase through walls like you can you now.”

The spirit rolls her eyes and phases her head back into the house. Three opens the door to her car and walks up to her front door. Before Three can put her hand on the handle, the pictures in her bag come back in her mind. At how embarrassed she was at looking at them, and how much she wants it to be real. However...

“She’s a ghost Mia... There’s no way it can work out...”

Three pulls out the picture, and sees the moment between them again. She feels her heart tug at seeing it again.

‘But I just want it to happen so much...’

Doing her best to block out the thoughts, she unlocks the door to her house, and walks right into it, seeing her friends’ happy expression. ‘Even if I can’t love her in that way, I’ll do my best to help her out. I can be the friend that she needs right now. And I am content with that.’

She puts a smile on her face and the two make their way over to the living room to watch a movie and for Three to make a small dinner for herself. The night goes by uneventfully, and when they go back to bed, Three almost hates the amount of comfort she feels from the ghost sharing the same bed as her. When she finally closes her eyes for the night, she doesn’t notice that her ghostly friend wrapped her arms around her waist as they both sleep peacefully throughout the night.


End file.
